District Profile

Franklin Local School District serves the children, families, and communities of Chandlersville, Duncan Falls, Philo, and Roseville, staying true to its mission of building an academic foundation for students’ future successes. Our district consists of Duncan Falls Elementary K-5; Roseville Elementary K-6; Philo Jr High 6-8; Philo High School 9-12; and Franklin Local Community School 7-12. We house three pre-school units for children ages 3-5, sponsored by the Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center. Two units are located at Duncan Falls Elementary and one unit is located at Franklin Local Community School in Roseville. The preschool program curriculum provides meaningful learning experiences that are aligned with the Early Learning and Development Standards.

The district office is located in Duncan Falls, Ohio, two minutes off State Route 60. Nestled along the shores of the Muskingum River within a total population of nearly 12,700, Franklin Local is conveniently located about 20 minutes from Interstate 70 and Zanesville. Franklin Local also is proud to partner with Mid-East Career and Technology Centers, Muskingum University, Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center, Ohio University-Zanesville, and Zane State College, on a variety of educational projects.

Curriculum and Assessment

Curriculum is aligned to Ohio’s Learning Standards to prepare all students to be college and career ready. K-12 curriculum, supported by instructional strategies and resources aligned to the standards, promotes a deep understanding and rigor of content, knowledge, and skills for all students to achieve high levels of academic achievement. Districtwide use of effective assessment practices is aligned across Ohio’s Learning Standards, grade levels, and subject areas to promote a high level of student achievement. Data/evidence from formative/summative assessments are used to monitor student progress and analyze and interpret student’s data to make informed decisions about teaching and learning. Franklin Local Schools offer strong core academic programs, as well as fine arts options, enrichment programs, new learning technologies, and extracurricular activities to support a well-rounded educational opportunity to promote life-long success for all students.

Advanced Placement (AP) Courses and Honors Courses

Students may choose to enroll in Advance Placement and Honors courses through APEX Learning. Philo High School provides an Advanced Placement Mentor Teacher who helps students succeed. Courses available can be obtained here.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)

Philo Jr. High School Students have the opportunity to take one STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) course in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in the school’s STEM lab funded by the Race to the Top grant. The STEM program features various models that deliver content to students through an interactive multimedia curriculum. Video, text, graphics, and animations explain concepts and direct activities while onscreen evaluations and assessments record student comprehension at various times. Module topics cover a broad range of elements from math, science, technology, careers, writing, reading, and research.

Vocational Agriculture

Our district offers a Vocational Agriculture course to students in grades 7-10, and in 2016 -17, established an FFA (Future Farmers of America) Charter. This was all made possible through a collaboration with Mid East Career and Technology Center. The goal of this program is to expose our students to Vo-Ag topics and content to help them make decisions about college and career options. The course content was developed to serve as a “feeder” program to the Natural Resources and Veterinary Tech programs offered to junior and seniors who attend Mid East at either the Zanesville or Buffalo campuses.

Content being covered in our Vo-Ag classes includes topics in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. Students study relationships between organisms and their environment. Principles of biogeochemical cycles, air-water-land relationships, non-point pollution, and wetlands are applied. Students examine fundamentals of resource development, agriculture sustainability, energy needs and pollution control. They analyze and interpret data gathered from studies on the ecosystem. Throughout the course, students develop responses to environmental problems and develop management strategies for responsible conservation and resource development.

College and Career Readiness/Career Exploration

The importance of being college and career ready is a driving force in our district’s mission of preparing students to be college and career ready through creative, relevant, and real-world instruction. Career exploration and career planning activities in grades 6-12 provides opportunities for students to develop a vision and realistic plan for their future.

Our College and Career Readiness (CCR) course exposes our high school students to the requirements and skills needed to continue their education and/or develop their career paths beyond high school. The course will focus on helping students decide what life path they will pursue after high school. While taking CCR, students are exposed to various career paths as well as different types of post-secondary education options (4 year traditional, 2-year military and technical career based, etc.). Some of the skills students learn are: how to fill out an application, how to interview, and what they need in order to obtain funding for their education. This course helps students make the transition from high school student to productive career oriented adults.

College Credit Plus (CCP)

Our district offers many opportunities for students to obtain college credits while attending Philo High School through the College Credit Plus (CCP) Program. Students can enroll in college credit courses during the regular school day taught by our CCP credentialed staff at Philo High School or online through our affiliation with Hocking College and Rhodes State College. Students may also choose to obtain college credits at one of the nearby colleges, as we are in close proximity to Ohio University-Zanesville, Zane State College, Ohio University-Newark and Central Ohio Technical College.

Technology

The introduction of technology in education is continuing to create great opportunities for students and teachers in the Franklin Local School District. The opportunities include a greater access to robust, digital curriculum, the opportunity for students to gain college credit through dual-enrollment, the availability of mobile devices in order to provide more meaningful learning, and expanding knowledge of social networking tools for learning and professional development.

As more technology emerges, the Franklin Local School District has been adept with keeping up with the constant changes to avoid creating a digital divide. Rather than just being able to provide simple internet access, Franklin Local can exceedingly provide enough bandwidth and wireless connectivity to support 21st Century Learning.

During the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, Franklin Local School District implemented a program that provides students in grades 3-12 with direct one-to-one access to an educational technological device that supports and maximizes student learning. Also, students in grades K-2 have access to classroom devices that support learning.

To further support next-generation learning, teachers are provided with up-to-date modern professional development. This professional development has enabled teachers to successfully implement digital curriculum, online based learning, blended learning, digital assessments, and increased student-teacher collaboration.

District Highlights/Distinctions

Franklin Local School District has been awarded a Most Improved Award by Battelle for Kids in recognition for our students making tremendous gains in value-added growth.

Philo High School is a two-time winner of the Ohio Department of Education’s Schools of Promise award.

Philo Junior High School was previously the recipient of the High Progress School of Honor.

Roseville Elementary School received the 2016 and 2017 Momentum Award, presented by the State Board of Education, in recognition for exceeding expectations in student growth for the year.

State Auditor’s Award

Franklin Local School District strives to be successful in all aspects of our operations including financial reporting and being excellent stewards of our taxpayers’ dollars. The School District has been awarded the Ohio Auditor of State Award for exemplary financial reporting in accordance with Generally Acceptable Accounting Principles (GAAP) for the year 2016. The award states, “The citizens you represent are well-served by your effective and accountable financial practices.”

Our Mission

To build an academic foundation for future success..

Our Vision

An academic community preparing all graduates to be college or career ready.